AIR debuts new models for Asia-Pacific region. (Property/Casualty).

AIR Worldwide Corp. released new typhoon and earthquake models for the Asia-Pacific region covering Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and the Philippines. AIR Worldwide Corp. is a catastrophe and weather risk modeling company.

"The Asia-Pacific region is an extremely active part of the world in terms of both seismic and tropical cyclone activity," said Neil Wiseman, managing director of AIR Ltd. in London. "As the primary and reinsurance markets in Asia continue to develop, managing catastrophe risk will become increasingly important."

The new AIR earthquake models incorporate the most recent seismological and tectonic information, as well as extensive Global Positioning System data from more than 350 stations operated throughout the region. Detailed soil and geological information at a resolution of 55 meters for several metropolitan areas is used to calculate ground motion. Region-specific building types, seismic codes and local construction practices are used to develop estimates of damage and insured loss.

The new Asia-Pacific tropical cyclone models incorporate data on more than 1,250 historical tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific Ocean between 1955 and 2000. The fully probabilistic storm-track generation procedure captures the complete evolution of intensity along the track. High-resolution elevation data are used to model the effects of mountainous terrain on wind speeds. Both ridge and sheltering effects are captured, as is the capacity of the high mountains that characterize Taiwan and Philippines to break up storm circulation patterns and actually decrease storm intensity. The new models are now available in AIR's CATRADER software application.